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By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com

BYOB 22412

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48 Responses to “BYOB 22412”

  1. Paul D/Stella says:

    Wanderlust (SPOILERS) was better than I expected. It’s so amiable and easy to like. Cast is really appealing. I didn’t like Marino’s character, and the casino subplot is pretty dumb, but overall I laughed a lot more than I expected to. The cameo at the end is great as is the presentation of the March of the Penguins meets An Inconvenient Truth documentary. Not exactly a must-see, but it’s pretty damn enjoyable.

    Anyone going to see the recruitment film this weekend? Love how much critics are bending over backwards to not potentially offend Navy SEALS while stating that the acting/story are terrible.

  2. movieman says:

    The first time I saw a trailer for “Act of Valor” last fall, I assumed it was another product of the Christian Coalition behind “Courageous” and “Fireproof.”
    It had the same anonymous, defiantly un-movie star-like actors; the same bald-faced melodramatics and espousal of “family values” and faith; the same tin-ear dialogue; same etc.) I was actually shocked when I learned that it had nothing to do with those other movies, and was even…gasp!…rated “R.”

  3. movieman says:

    Love how Tyler Perry is asking people to come and see his latest this weekend because he’s had a “really tough past 12 days.”
    Shameless.
    And the funny thing is that “Good Deeds” probably doesn’t even need that kind of pity-party marketing approach.
    Perry’s fans will surely descend en masse upon the nation’s ‘plexes this weekend come hell, snow, high water, Oscars or the typical absence of opening day reviews.

  4. sanj says:

    where are the sundance 2012 dp/30’s .

    at this point – actors should be a bit angry they
    wasted 30 minutes and nothing got posted .
    the ones that were posted i really liked .

    i asked for mp3’s of these 1 week before the festival even
    started .

    so the total value of dp/30’s goes down for me and i’m still a fan ..not a huge fan like a once was .

    the dp/30’s i do really like – 90% of the credit goes
    directly to the people doing it.

    half the time DP is like a doctor of sorts – actors go in once a year for checkup ..

    LxxG – total banned or baned for short while ?

    one day somebody will make a documentary about him …
    thing is 90% of the thing is text and he’s done some videos it won’t be easy .

    tv show i’m giving up on suburgatory – abc , good actors
    but the writing is weak and not funny but the music is
    so bad in this .

    act of valor movie – this should be free for people on xbox and ps3 – its like a shooter movie .
    will any real movie reviewers actually review this for real ?

    Kim Shaw – my #1 pick for actress that might do something
    good in the future so look out …she’s on mtv show
    called i just want my pants back ..but mtv is sorta a joke
    and nobody takes it seriously so that sucks

    http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2137418/

    Cassetteboy vs The News – 3 minutes. really good
    editing

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-kbMF1GF2A&hd=1

  5. Mike says:

    I swear to god, the first time I saw the Act of Valor trailer, I assumed it was a video game. I’m still not entirely convinced it’s not a fake movie ad. But most of the trailers I see now look so bad, that I have a problem assuming anyone made a real movie out of this crap.

  6. Joe Leydon says:

    There is a moment in Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds that fleetingly evokes a key scene in, of all things, Drive. Can’t say much more than that, but I’ll be curious to see how many other folks get the same vibe.

  7. Krillian says:

    I’ve been saying Act of Valor looks like it should have been called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

    I’ve been catching up on the good fall movies I missed in theaters. Saw 50/50 earlier this week (loved it) and I’ll watch Drive later today.

  8. Mike says:

    I just saw 50/50 and was blown away by how good it was. I made my wife watch it with me (for the second time) the same day. It’s a shame that didn’t get more Oscar heat.

  9. David Poland says:

    sanj – I’ve posted 32 half hours of new interviews this year already. A 33rd will go up shortly. And there have been 5 or 6 2011 interviews that have also gone up. My maximum goal is 260 a year. And we’re not far off track from that. Sorry it’s going too slowly for you.

    There are 21 more Sundance interviews that we shot last month, which will roll out over the next month. And we’re continuing to shoot interviews for films that are coming out and going to festivals.

    And so goes DP/30…

  10. movieman says:

    Paul:
    Re: your “Wanderlust” comments.
    I really enjoyed the first and third acts, but found the mid-section kind of flabby and uninspired. Overall, it’s a respectable enough “B.”
    Sadly enough, I guess we’ll all have to wait a little while longer for this generation’s “Lost in America” to emerge.

  11. Paul D/Stella says:

    I agree, Wanderlust is a respectable B. A good matinee if one is in the mood for a comedy.

  12. movieman says:

    Paul- Was a trailer of “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World” attached to your print?
    If it’s only half as good as the trailer, “World” should (easily) be one of the summer’s best movies.

  13. Paul D/Stella says:

    I saw it at a screening on Wednesday night. No trailers.

  14. sanj says:

    DP – the dp/30 release dates confuse me – if you have
    all of them and they need no editing can’t all of them
    be posted the same day ? do movie studios or actors
    stop you from posting stuff early / same day ?

    the people doing the interviewsw are stuck in a digital prison when they don’t have to be. FREE Sarah Polley.

    the sundance dp/30 are my highest rated ones – even
    higher than most of the tiff dp/30 ..when you post the
    10-15 minute preview clips – it gets me hyped up on
    the new interviews that are supposed to come out but
    somehow they extra month and then i get way less hyped
    on it .

    nice people on the internet ..

    http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/36arm9/

    the guy from UP

    http://i.imgur.com/KsHuP.jpg

  15. movieman says:

    It’s probably online by now, Paul.
    Definitely worth checking out.

  16. cadavra says:

    Wow, the WANDERLUST matinee numbers are beyond awful. Unless this turns into the biggest date-night movie ever tonight, it looks like another huge splat o’ red ink on the Aniston balance sheet.

  17. JKill says:

    I saw PROJECT X at a preview screening. I had no idea what to expect, other than the basic premise and concept. It’s a pretty interesting film, and it’s very accomplished and clever visually and a great debut for its director. It’s very much an auteur film for Phillips, even though he’s only a producer, in the sense that it hits all of his thematic interests and hits them hard. My main complaints are that the beginning is a little rough and that I didn’t really laugh at all, although that oddly didn’t matter to me since the screenplay is so solid structurally and I was entertained and amused throughout. I’m curious to what people make of it when it comes out. For me, it doesn’t get close to touching the heights of CHRONICLE but it does show that there’s still new, cool directions to take the found footage style.

    I’m looking forward to WANDERLUST. I’m a big fan of all involved. And I agree with movieman that SEEKING A FRIEND… looks great.

  18. chris says:

    Maybe you mean you didn’t like the way the film used the Marino character or he played it, Paul D/Stella? Pretty clearly, we are meant to hate him.

  19. sanj says:

    wasn’t expecting this ..

    “Aritst Shepard Fairey, who created the iconic “Hope” campaign poster featuring then-Sen. Barack Obama for the 2008 presidential campaign, pleaded guilty in Manhattan Federal Court on Friday to one count of criminal contempt for destroying documents, manufacturing evidence and other misconduct.”

    http://www.thewrap.com/media/article/shepard-fairey-pleads-guilty-obama-hope-poster-case-35713

  20. Geoff says:

    SPOILER ALERT

    I realize this discussion is a few weeks late, but I finally saw The Grey a few days ago…..already had the ending spoiled for me, but oddly, that made it even better.

    Ok, I dig that they left the ending ambiguous – many have made the sharp point that it could have looked very cheesy to actually SHOW the big showdown between Liam and the CGI alpha wolf.

    However….for a movie that is so focused on being ultra-realistic about how unforgiving nature (and the wolves) can be, am I the only one who didn’t quite buy:

    The alpha wolf is standing in front of Liam Neeson and just hangs there as he rifles through his bag, breaks some bottles, and constructs weapons for his hands??? Come on, now! Given the logic of the movie and the instant brutality of the wolves, that wolf would have been on him the first sign of violence….

    But otherwise, fantastic movie! Steve Grillo is definitely an actor I want to see more of – he was great in this and Warrior.

  21. Breedlove says:

    Geoff, I had more trouble with him emerging apparently fine from that frozen river…I always thought if you fell into freezing cold water in the middle of winter like that you were basically dead in a couple of minutes.

    I was surprised to find the NBA all-star game and the Oscars were being held at the exact same time…seems odd…different demographics I guess…both would normally be a must watch for me and neither really lends itself to DVR…I don’t know how this stuff works, I guess everything with the NBA is screwy because of the lockout. Seems like they would try to avoid scheduling a big event like this against the Oscars.

    Lastly, just saw Miss Bala and was a little disappointed because, maybe I’m a moron but I just had so much trouble following the story that I sort of tuned out after a while. Friend I went with had the same issue. There were about 20 different things in the movie I couldnt figure out, and it’s not really supposed to be some twisty confusing mind bender so again maybe I’m just slow. SPOILERS the dude gives her money to go buy a dress, she goes inside with the pageant chick, immediately escapes out the back door, and then…still goes to buy a dress? And keeps the cell phone? And answers it? And where the hell did the DEA guys come from that took her phone? And when she crossed into the U.S. why the hell did she fly somewhere, then the guy gives her a nice brand new SUV to drive back in, then as soon as she crosses back there’s immediately some huge gunfight that I didn’t understand…didn’t understand the ending either…movie drove me nuts. Sorry for the endless post.

  22. bulldog68 says:

    Early weekend numbers are of course somewhat unreliable but if it’s even in the ballpark, looks like Act of Valor will perform better than the prognosticators said and Deeds will underperform.

    If AoV does get to an opening in the $30m range do you think some of it’s success can be attributed to the recent real life successes of Seal Team 6? Was this the right movie released at the right time?

  23. Paul D/Stella says:

    I realize the audience isn’t supposed to like him chris. I guess I could have worded that better. I didn’t find the character funny at all. Wanderlust has a really amiable tone except for Rick’s scenes. They just don’t gel with the rest of the movie. I stopped enjoying it each time he’s on screen.

  24. yancyskancy says:

    Geoff: His name is FRANK Grillo. I haven’t seen THE GREY yet, but I agree he’s excellent in WARRIOR. I recently saw him on a LAW AND ORDER: SVU repeat, and he was good in that, too. He’s been around almost 20 years; nice to seeing him getting some better opportunities in film.

  25. leahnz says:

    i’m always excited for the next tom mccarthy movie, i wonder when that will be. (i just happened to see ‘the visitor’ again – people are always whinging about not enough ‘adult’ movies/love stories, well ‘the visitor’ is lovely) payne is kind of on my shitlist for ‘the descendants’ (but can easily redeem himself), so in the meantime pound-for-pound mccarthy is my go-to anticipated ‘quirky american dramedy’ director (tho visitor is more drama and less ‘edy’). and wes anderson. but i’m afaird at some point wes is going to out-quirk even himself and become the tim burton of whimsy, so highly stylised, which might not even be a bad thing really. i guess all will be revealed soon(ish).

  26. movieman says:

    Kind of surprised Seyfried even bothered with an obvious loser like “Gone.”
    It practically screams mid-’80s Lifetime MOW (“Mother, I’m Trapped in a Hole”).
    Still rather remarkable that it’ll do even less opening weekend biz than Summit’s other recent crap fest, “Man on a Ledge” since it looked marginally more exploitable to a young female demo.
    Was supposed to drive up to Cleveland for an early morning “Lorax” promo, but a snow storm put a literal dampener on my plans.
    Ah, winter.

  27. anghus says:

    Seyfried’s choices have been curious. But i think it feels about the right time for the management change press release that will inevitably happen.

    I keep seeing Tower Heist DVD ads. Theyre really pushing the ‘CONTAINS AN ALTERNATE ENDING’. Twice in a 30 second commercial. At the end they re-state ‘Stay tuned after the credits for an Alternate Ending’ That’s your sell? An alternate ending?

    Who are the ad geniuses that came up with that one.

  28. SamLowry says:

    Surprised to see any praise for Wanderlust, considering the review we got in the local paper said it was packed full of hackneyed stereotypes that were outdated thirty years ago, which just happens to be when the Richard Benjamin/Paula Prentiss TV movie “Packin’ It In” came out, which I still remember quite fondly.

    When I recently described the full plot of that movie to a co-worker, he thought I was talking about RV, which apparently copied it rather shamelessly. Even the older sis antagonizing her weak-bladdered little bro by turning on the RV’s faucet?

  29. Paul D/Stella says:

    I wasn’t expecting much from Wanderlust, but it’s consistently funny. Really likeable cast. Helps if you’re a Rudd fan, which I am. The plot might be stale, but so what?

    Huge, enormous fan of The Visitor. Beautiful film. Ashamed that I haven’t seen Win Win yet.

  30. movieman says:

    “Win Win” is wonderful, Paul. As is “The Visitor” (props to Leah for bringing it up).
    I think it’s pretty safe to say that McCarthy is the real deal after “The Station Agent,” “Visitor” and “WW.”
    Anghus- I’m curious to see the reaction to Seyfried’s Linda Lovelace pic.
    That could determine whether she really has a career in film…or winds up back on TV.
    Not that television is anything to be ashamed of (in most cases) these days. Seyfried first came to my attention as Bill Paxton’s eldest daughter on HBO’s great “Big Love.”

  31. SamLowry says:

    Well, looks like I did something to offend the screening filter; my last msg has been trapped in the “awaiting moderation” buffer for over two hours.

  32. Don R. Lewis says:

    Joe Carnahan is writing a reboot of DEATH WISH specifically for Frank Grillo.

  33. yancyskancy says:

    Don: That’s awesome. Hope the studio doesn’t balk and go with a ‘name.’ If they can’t come up with fresh stories, at least make it fresh in other ways, and maybe create a new star in the bargain.

  34. Paul D/Stella says:

    Ugh I wish Carnahan was making White Jazz or Killing Pablo rather than a Death Wish remake.

  35. movieman says:

    I thought Bradley Cooper (or was it Robbert Pattinson?) was already attached to play the old Bronson role in Carnahan’s “Death Wish” remake?

  36. movieman says:

    P.S.= That was a joke. It seems like every leading (male) role these days is offered to either Cooper or Pattinson.
    But seriously: I could have sworn I read somewhere that Liam Neeson was going to do the new “DW.”
    If so, typecasting strikes again.

  37. torpid bunny says:

    Taylor Swift is taking an 18 year old cancer patient to the oscars. Maybe she should just go into charity work full time.

  38. Don R. Lewis says:

    On Twitter Carnahan said he was writing it for Grillo but he seems a little “no name” to me. IMDB says KILLING PABLO is in pre-production but that stuffs rarely something you can trust on that site.

  39. sanj says:

    the indie spirit movie awards are on today ..

    for some reason they are showing this on e! – after 6 hours of kardashians reality shows ..

    i really liked last years indie awards .. they have more fun with the speeches and the show itself .

    i figure the artist will win since they won everything else on every other award show .

    is DP over there grabbing some new dp/30’s ?

  40. Don R. Lewis says:

    Here’s an article about Grillo and DEATH WISH:
    http://screenrant.com/joe-carnahan-death-wish-frank-grillo-kofi-149189/

    Just as with most remakes but specifically the STRAW DOGS one, I don’t see why these films can’t pay homage or be a response to the earlier work rather than a flat out remake. I mean, is DEATH WISH such a powerful household film name that simply rolling it out again will guarantee box office success? Everyone was so thrilled with DISTURBIA because of it’s clear influence from REAR WINDOW and that film did really well. But rather than keep doing more “clever” resemblances, these studios just go for remakes that fail.

  41. leahnz says:

    every movie should star richard jenkins. jenkins for the ‘death wish’ remake. paul kersey wasn’t a badass (to begin with), and bronson was an actual grown-up man in his fifties. enough with this ‘every movie must have a 25yr old leading man with puppy fat’ nonsense (eta apart from neeson, and he needs to step away from the revenge thrillers for a bit)

    (wow i didn’t realise jenkins is in his 60’s)

  42. sanj says:

    Conan O’brien audio podcast – 1.5 hours long .

    he talk d about his career – he’s not that funny in this podcast – there’s 15 minutes worth of new material
    – he goes insane at times .. and that drives him
    to write stuff and do better comedy.

    http://www.nerdist.com/2012/02/nerdist-podcast-conan-obrien/

    also last year Colbert was my favorite interview i had him at 95% – this year he dropped to 90% but he’s still
    the best interviewer ever. Colbert is truly different than
    the late night talk shows …he rocks. he knows it.
    he gets awards for it . too bad he didn’t screw around
    with the oscars this year .. he could have gotten a few
    actors the Colbert bump.

    watching Colbert Report makes me smarter. he doesn’t do the same stuff as the other late night guys.

    of course Colbert is too famous for a dp/30 .

  43. sanj says:

    LOOK AT HER! Zooey is photoshopped ..

    ah well… at least she’s getting paid to look different .

    Rimmel London: Doctored Deschanel

    http://www.psdisasters.com/2012/02/rimmel-london-doctored-deschanel.html#disqus_thread

  44. SamLowry says:

    Well, heck. A longish piece asking why the ’80s were so much better at doing “getting away from it all” movies…gone. Even got the Albert Brooks mention in there.

    Maybe it was spiked because I concluded by noting the decline of Hollywood since then, and asked if remake-happy studios would take another shot at “Day of the Locust” by focusing on Don Murphy and his ilk.

  45. SamLowry says:

    Yay, I think I figured out the moderation buffer–just mention someone who has been banned and ZAPPO!

    EDIT: Yep, that one got through. So I’ll toss this back in, even though my brilliant earlier post is now gone:

    “Well, heck. A longish piece asking why the ’80s were so much better at doing “getting away from it all” movies…gone. Even got the Albert Brooks mention in there.”

  46. SamLowry says:

    Let’s try this:

    “Maybe it was spiked because I concluded by noting the decline of Hollywood since then, and asked if remake-happy studios would take another shot at “Day of the Locust” by focusing on D** M***** and his ilk.”

    EDIT: Okay, that first one just got approved, so now my posts look silly. Sorry.

    Well, I did mention that “Packin’ It In” appears much deeper than “Wanderlust” (haven’t seen it), because rather than pack up his family and escape the evils of LA by joining a commune (which his dope-smoking, Skinemax-watching son would enjoy), Benjamin takes them instead to a survivalist enclave. “Lost in America” got a mention…oh, and when paradise starts to wear thin and you realize you need to return to civilization, you get a “Rude Awakening” when you discover all the hipster friends you left behind have sold out and become uptight yuppies.

  47. sanj says:

    i watched the artist dp/30 finally – i predict 1 hit wonder …unless these 2 get another major film this year – no more DP/30’s for them .

    Cecile De France and Noomi Rapace – they got 1 hit wonders too – some big films with big name actors – awards . no more dp/30’s for them.

    a lot of international movie stars have to win some sort of movie award and then go to LA just for a dp/30 .

    slumdog millionaire won and the 2 big leads were also
    not from the US ..Patel and Pinto…no more dp/30’s ..

    so question is – international actors / directors – how easily do people forget about them ? i know movie critics never forget about international superstar movie
    actors ..

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Quote Unquotesee all »

It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.

And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.

There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.

I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.

So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.

But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”

My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher

“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.

~ David Simon